Wikileaks releases first 2,050 emails from Clinton adviser Podesta
The first 2,050 of more than 50,000 emails from Clinton Campaign Chairman John Podesta were released Friday night by WikiLeaks, as promised by its founder Julius Assange last week. They appeared very shortly after the damaging media disclosures of Donald Trump’s 2005 lewd remarks about women.
The WikiLeaks mails contain what seem to be excerpts from paid speeches delivered by Hillary Clinton to various Wall Street firms, flagging the problematic bits to avoid.
One excerpt touches on backroom dealings, an issue that has dogged her campaign against Trump. In an email dated Jan. 25, 2016, Clinton research director Tony Clark sent a message to Podesta in which he highlighted “a lot of policy positions that we should give an extra scrub.”
The passages recommended for deletion cover Clinton’s potential weaknesses as a candidate, such as those highlighting her close ties with Wall Street; her championing of pro-trade trade positions; and her questionable State Department email practices, including the security concerns raised by her use of a Blackberry and private server.
This release could give Clinton headaches on both her left and right wings ahead of Sunday’s second presidential debate with Donald Trump.